Land leveler



Dec. 2, 1952 F. WILSON ETAL LAND LEVELER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 7, 1947 Inventor Forest Wilson Virgil Bugg m y a Attorneys Dec. 2, 1952 F. WILSON EI'AL LAND LEVELER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 7, 1947 Wm A n e v w n 0 s H I s e M. F

Virgil Bugg Dec. 2, 1952 F. WILSON ETAL 2,619,749

LAND LEVELER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 7, 194'? Inventor F oresf Wilson .Virgil Bugg di away H Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to scrapers, and'more particularly to a land l'eveler having a rigid frame, a pair of laterally disposed wheels and a scraper mechanically linked with said wheels to provide vertically reverse movements of the scraper and the wheels as the land leveler is drawn over uneven ground.

It is a primary object of this-invention to provide a land leveler with scrapers thereof arranged to coact with the wheels of the frame, in order to fill in the declivities and to remove the ridges in the ground over which the land 'leveler is drawn.

Another object of this invention is to provide a land leveler in which the means used to vary the position of a centrally disposed scraper is automatic, other scrapers at the front end and rear end of the frame of the device functioning to complement the work of the centrally disposed scraper.

Still another object of this invention is to provide manual means whereby the scraper at the center of the frame -may be raised or lowered, while the device is being propelled over the ground. 7

And still another object is to provide means to adjust the mechanical linkage between the above referred to central scraper and the wheel assembly.

Other objects of this invention include the provision of cutter members which may be reversed to provide for an extended length of useful life of the cutter blades, and other objects which will become apparent as this description proceeds.

A last object to be specifically mentioned is to provide a device of this character which is relatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture, extremely simple and convenient to use, and which will give generally efficient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan'view of the assembled land leveler;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional View, taken on the line 3-3 in Figure 1 and in the direction of the arrows, that is, looking toward the front of the machine; i

Figure 4 is a frag'mentaryenlarged view of the central portion of the machine; the view being taken substantially on'the line 44 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail fragmentary view, in perspective, of the lift shaft assembly and contiguous portions of the frame structure;

Figure 6 is 'a vertical cross-sectional View of the rear portion of the machine, taken on the line 6-45 in Figure 1;

Figure '7 is an enlarged detail View of the front portion of the machine, the view being in elevation; and

Figure 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in Figure '7, the view being taken on the line 8-8 in Figure 1.

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the centrally disposed scraper showing the attachment means for a reversible blade.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical parts and portions throughout the specification and throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to these drawings in detail, it will be noted that this invention includes a rigid frame adapted to be secured to a tractor by means of a drawbar Ill-and an adjustable drawbar attachment plate [2 which is provided with 'a'plurality of holes wherein bolts may be secured. The front of the frame is preferably V-shaped and will be comprised of angle iron sections l4 which are rigidly secured at the center of the machine to the drawbar l0, as by welding, the outer ends of the members being similarly secured to the elongated lateral frame members [6. The rear end of the frame is provided with a channel iron section [8 which is of a length greater than the distance between the lateral frame members l6 and extends outwardly therefrom at each side, as best shown in Figure 1. It should be noted that the lateral frame members are also preferably constructed of channel iron and that the frame is braced by a rear cross brace 20 and a front cross brace 22, together with angularly disposed braces 24 extending from the front of the machine where these braces are rigidly secured to the rear end of the drawbar l0 to the lateral members l 6, while other diagonally disposed braces 26 are secured in the rectangle between the rear cross brace member 20 and the rear end member Id of the frame. Still another cross brace 28 provides auxiliary support for the lift shaft assembly, this cross brace being disposed to the rear of the before mentioned front cross brace 22, and it may be noted that a platform comprised of longitudinally disposed members 33 and transversely disposed cross bars 32, is mounted on these braces.

The front frame members It are constructed of angle irons, the two flanges being disposed at an acute angle, as best represented in Figure 8, and a pair of front scraper blades 34 are secured to the depending portions of the angle irons M by means of bolts 36. Each scraper blade is rectangular and apertured at a plurality of points to receive the bolts 36, the said bolt apertures being disposed along a center line of the scraper blade to allow the reversal of the individual blades after one edge thereof is worn down, this structure doubling the useful life of these blades. It is preferred that the inner ends of these blades be cut away as represented at 38 in Figure '7. A post 40, apertured as at 42 is rigidly secured to the upper surface of the front frame members l4 and the drawbar Ii) at the front and center of the machine, for a purpose hereinafter described. Reinforcing angle plates 6d are secured to the members 14 and to this post, as illustrated in Figures '1 and 2.

The centrally disposed cross brace 28 is constructed of angle irons and the upstanding flange thereof provides support for a pair of angle brackets 46. These angle brackets 46 are used to support the forward end of the centrally disposed scraper assembly, generally indicated by the numeral 48. This scraper 48 comprises a U-shaped frame 59, the forward ends of which are pivoted on the said brackets 46, and the transversely disposed portion of which is rigidly secured to the relatively wide arcuate plate 52 which depends from the U-shaped member and is reinforced at the lower edge thereof by an angle iron 54 which is welded to the rear face of the member 52. This construction is clearly shown in Figure 9 of the drawings, and a scraper blade 56 of a character corresponding generally with the character of the scraper blade 34 described above is reversibly secured to this angle iron by means of removable bolts 58.

The upper edge of the arcuate plate 52 is similarly reinforced by an angle iron 60 which car ries an upstanding bracket 62 adjacent each end thereof and another bracket at the center for the mounting of the cross bar 64, these brackets being apertured to provide simple bearings for the rod 64. It will be understood that this structure may be varied considerably without unduly altering the functioning of the machine, and that the U-shaped frame member 56 of the center'scraper 58 may be incorporated in any desired manner with the arcuate plate 52, one preferred embodiment being represented in Figure i wherein the forwardly extending arms of the U-shaped member constitute two lateral guard plates, the lower edges of which will contact the ground when this scraper is in operation. It has been found that the provision of these lateral guard plates prevent the formation of ridges on either side of the machine as the same is propelled forwardly, since these guard plates prevent the scraper blade 56 from forcing the displaced earth outwardly from the sides of the machine.

An angle bracket 66 is secured centrally of the cross brace member 23 and extends rearwardly to support an arm 68 having the rear end thereof rigidly secured to the top of the arcuate plate 52. A hand lever W is mounted on this arm 68 and a rack 72 of arcuate form is secured to this arm 68 to provide for the adjustable securement of this lever in a variety of positions. A link 14 connects the lever 10 with an upstanding lever 15 rigidly secured to the rod 64, and a pair of spaced levers i8 similarly rigidly secured to the rod 64 connect with a pair of links 8!! which are, in turn, connected to the forward ends of a pair of levers 82. The levers 16 and 78 may be considered as comprising a bell crank. The levers 82 are rigidly secured to a generally U-shaped elongated cross member 84 having arms 85. The arms 65 of the elongated cross member 84 carry a pair of outwardly extending stub axles 86 upon which the wheels 88 are mounted. It may be noted that the elongated member 84 is terminally upwardly bent, as at 90, to clear the side frame members It, during the vertical movement of this elongated member.

A single axle 92 extends transversely of the frame and is mounted in bearings 9:3 on the side frame members I6, and the ends of this axle 92 are rigidly secured to the arms of the elongated member 86. From the foregoing it will be understood how the frame is supported on the wheels 88 and how movement in a vertical direction of these wheels mounted on the same will cause a reverse vertical movement of the transversely disposed portion of the elongated member 84 and the mechanism connected therewith including the rod 64 and the rear portion of the scraper 58. The immediately foregoing arrangement of elements achieves the fourth recited object in the objects limited in the preamble of the specification, since the linkage Hi-82 can be changed by the lever is to alter the operational relationship between the rod 6d and the member 84 so that the amount of movement of the central scraper blade 56, resulting from a vertical movement of the wheels 88, can be altered at the will of the operator, by shifting the lever Hi.

When it is desired to raise the scraper 68 by hand the manual control mechanism which will now be described is used. This mechanism includes a relatively long hand lever 96' which is rigidly secured to a cross bar 98 mounted in upstanding brackets lilfi on the lateral frame members [6. It is preferred that these brackets should be secured to the central cross brace 28 and that suitable reinforcing braces IE2 be secured to the brackets and the lateral frame members 16, as illustrated in Figure 4. These reinforcing members I92 are also shown clearly in Figure 5 and if reference be'now had to that figure it will be seen that the brace W4 is provided on the rod 93 to give further support to the hand lever Q6. A pair of upstanding levers 598 are rigidly secured to the rod 98 and a relatively long link IE8 is pivotally secured to each of the upstanding levers soas to extend forwardly therefrom for connection to a corresponding pair of rods I I5! which have chains I I2 on the forward ends thereof and a pair of helical springs H4 secured under tension between these chains and a forward portion of the frame. This construction biases the links H38 in a forward direction and this biasing action is transmitted to the U-shaped member 84 by means of rearwardly extending portions of the links I08 which are pivotally secured to the upwardly bent portions of the U-shaped member. It will be readily understood that the U-shaped member 84 and the center scraper 38 may be raised by pulling the hand lever 96 forwardly. The function of the platform formed by the members 36 and 32 will now be more clearly understood, since this platform is properly positioned relative to the hand lever 96 to allow an operator to stand on the platform and operate this lever. When a single operator must control both the propelling tractor and the scraper, it will be convenient to secure a cable to the upper end of the hand lever 96 and the forward end of this cable may be secured to the post 40 at the front central portion of the machine, the apertures 42 facilitating the easy adjustment of this cable which will ordinarily be equipped with a hook terminal.

Referring now to the structure at the rear end of the machine, it should be noted that laterally disposed guard plates IIIS are rigidly secured to the channel member I8 by means of angle brackets II8, as illustrated in Figure 6. As already described the channel iron members I8 extend laterally of the side frame members I6 and brace members I20 are secured to the lateral frame members and to the lateral guard members I I6 to provide for rigidity of this portion of the structure. A downwardly and rearwardly extending bracket I22 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the lower portion of the channel members IB and a reversible cutter blade I24 is removably secured to this depending bracket by means of a plurality of bolts I26. It will be understood that this cutter blade I24 extends the whole width of the machine, that is, that this cutter blade extends outwardly to the guard members I I6.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description of the mechanical details in this invention, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to be achieved by this invention but, in recapitulation, it may be noted that all three scraper members will ordinarily simultaneously act upon the earth to be moved, the center scraper 48 being relied upon to move the greater portion of said earth while the rear scraper blade 55 will act as a pulverizer and finisher in the leveling operation. The reverse movements, in a vertical plane, of the wheels 88 and the scraper 48 result in the automatic adjustment of the scraper toward the general level of the ground over which the machine is propelled, rather than corresponding with the upward and downward movement of the wheels as these wheels encounter elevation and declivities in the ground.

It is believed that the foregoing satisfactorily describes how this machine may be manufactured and, used and though there has been shown a particular embodiment of this invention, this application is not limited to this particular embodiment, but it is desred to include in the scope of this invention the construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and described to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A land leveler comprising an elongated frame including a pair of longitudinal side members, a cross-shaft extending transversely between said side members and movable downward- 1y toward and upwardly away from said side members, a pair of inverted U-shaped members secured to the ends of the cross-shaft and adapted to straddle said side members on downward movement of said inverted U-shaped members, cranks supported by and disposed perpendicular to said U-shaped members and spaced outwardly from the side members, wheels on said cranks, an axle paralleling the cross-shaft and rotatably supported on the frame and having its ends fixed to said cranks, to support said cross-shaft, means connecting said U-shaped members to the frame and yieldingly urging the U-shaped members to a vertical position and said cranks horizontal, a crossbar parallelin said axle and movable toward and away from the frame, lateral arms fixed to said cross-shaft and extending toward said crossbar, additional lateral arms fixed to said cross-shaft and extending toward the crossbar, links joining the arms on the crossshaft to the arms on the crossbar, a, substantially U-shaped scraper member having its ends pivoted to said frame for vertical swinging movement, said scraper member being connected to said crossbar, and means connected to said crossbar and said scraper for adjusting the latter about its pivot.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said last named means comprises a cross-brace member terminally secured to said side members, a vertically swingable arm pivoted at one end to said cross-brace member and secured at its other end to said scraper, a lever pivoted to said vertically swingable arm, a short arm fixed to and projecting laterally from said crossbar, a, link terminally pivoted to said lever and said short arm, and adjusting means between said lever and said vertically swingable arm for adjusting the lever about its pivot.

FOREST WILSON. VIRGIL BUGG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,765,910 Eversman June 24, 1930 1,774,469 Brown et al Aug. 26, 1930 1,974,190 Miller Sept. 18, 1934 2,208,526 Gurries July 16, 1940 2,209,312 Rapp July 30, 1940 2,277,889 Shumaker Mar. 31, 1942 

